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Little Kids

Are Your Kids Headed for Diabetes

How Vitamin D could be linked to diabetes

By Christen Brownlee

Vitamin D is probably already on your radar, with all the news
stories about it fighting osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancerâ€”not to
mention its link to weight loss.

Besides keeping an eye on your vitamin D levels, you might want to
check Juniorâ€™s, tooâ€”especially if your kid is overweight. According to a
new study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, overweight children are more likely to be vitamin D-deficient, and kids with the lowest vitamin D levels have the highest risk of developing the initial stages of type 2 diabetes.

Researchers ran tests on 411 obese kids ages 6 to 11 and 89 non-obese
children. They took the kidsâ€™ height and weight, asked questions about
their diet, and did simple blood tests to check vitamin D levels and
assess some early signs of type 2 diabetes.

The obese kids were three times more likely to be vitamin D
deficient, and those who were low in vitamin D were more likely to be
insulin resistantâ€”a glaring early warning for type 2 diabetes. The
findings held true even when the researchers accounted for the kidsâ€™
weights, meaning that obesity itself wasnâ€™t the only risk factor for
insulin resistance.

When the researchers looked to see why obese kids were low in vitamin
D, the study turned up a few clues: Children who tested deficient were
more likely to skip breakfast and drink more soda and juice, all poor
dietary habits.

But a few other factors might be at play, says study leader Micah
Olson, M.D., of Phoenix Childrenâ€™s Hospital. Since we get a lot of our
vitamin D from the sun, itâ€™s possible these kids might be hiding in the
dark like little vampires, whiling away their hours with sedentary
activities like watching TV and playing video games. And since vitamin D
is fat soluble, itâ€™s also possible that their entire bodies have lots
of vitamin D, but itâ€™s sequestered away in their fat tissue instead of
in the blood, where the body can use it.

How do you know if your child is at risk for type-2 diabetes? The
biggest risk factor is still BMI, Olson says. If your kid is in the 95th
BMI percentileâ€”and especially if thereâ€™s a family history of type-2
diabetesâ€”get him or her checked for diabetes at the pediatricianâ€™s
office. Click here for a childrenâ€™s BMI calculator.